A word of caution to the sharing.

[Seapaddler]

Seapaddler steps onto the soapbox

As I browse around the net collecting videos, trying at least (oxyshare you suck) and then reading the post about her entire En Concert DVD uploaded to google video I got to thinking and got a bit concerned....

If it wasn't for people in France recording her television appearances and uploading them onto websites I would have never heard of her so I'm grateful for that, however other people uploading her commercial products like the DVD and mp3's will only damage her sales no matter the quality of the upload.

We are so used to sharing her content as it is due to the absence of new material that I can imagine people will automatically start sharing her new stuff when it comes out. I hope not. Only 300,000 sold in France for MCE may or may not be the main reason the MF and LB team moved on but if it is, uploading her commercial stuff new or old will certainly hurt her future.

If you think about it the ipod popularity really took off and was booming when her second album came out. The first ipod was late 2001 and MCE was released early 2003, by then probably a lot of people shared the singles with their friends and subsequently shared the album. This could happen to her 3rd album. Of course it’s impossible to know for sure if mp3’s hurt her sales it’s only speculation on my part.


When her next single/album does reach the World for her sake we should all adopt a zero tolerance for pirating her music or bought content. Never upload or share her purchased music to anyone even your best buddy. Tell people to pay for it and support her. Her commercial success in 2007 could make or break her career. If you want to enjoy her music in the future don't pirate her stuff in the present.

Seapaddler steps down from the soapbox

Addendum:

RMJ puts it succinctly, CD sales are stats and the all important indicators to a record company regarding how they proceed with the artist in the near future or distant future, it's common sense business. Whether you think she gets 1% or 50% in profit isn't the support I'm referring to. Sales numbers imply a fan base and without the numbers, the corporate suits assume there isn't a fan base to backup their investment.

All I wanted to say is the community as a whole is in a Download and Share mentality at the moment, I wanted to point out we need to make sure we snap out of it when she comes back and get into a buying mode and extend that mindset to the people we introduce her to.